Spotify on HTC: If You Change One Thing Let It Be This!

I had thought of writing a “7 things I Would Change on Spotify for HTC” post, but quite frankly there really aren’t 7 things to change. It’s an awesome application that allows ease of use for artists browsing, playlist browsing and general playback. There is however one thing I would change.

Non-Hands Free Headphones

I do not use the default, crappy, plastic headphones that come with the G2 HTC phone. I invested in a pair of sound-reducing, sound-blocking in-ear Sony headphones. The reason? I don’t want to hear other people nor do I want them to hear me. I travel via public transport so this, I feel, is a must.

Whilst listening to whatever takes my fancy, if I receive a phone call, Spotify kindly pauses my music and allows my phone to ring/vibrate and bring the call screen up – excellent; It is also basic interface design.

Due to listening through non-standard headphones I do not have hands free, or a microphone, so what I have to do is pull the headphones out of the phone to take the call. Common sense it would seem.

What doesn’t happen however, nor do I have an option to enable, is the music reamining in a paused state once the phone call ends. What actually happens is I have less than 2 seconds to quickly re-insert the 3.5mm headphone jack into the socket otherwise my music automatically starts playing again.

On a packed bus this is very embarrassing and annoying as it takes what seems like minutes (actually only less than 2 seconds) before the music is transferred to my headphones once I fumble & panic. In the meantime whatever track I was listening to comes blaring out of the handset at super-high volume (due to my sound-reducing headphones being awesome) and the bus/train being treated to my wide taste in music. Only this morning was the old lady sat next to me treat to Pressure Drop (VIP) – Technical Itch (nasty dark DnB).

So please, in an open letter to Spotify – PLEASE – give me the option to allow music to remain paused after a call so I can turn it back on when I am good and ready. Thank you.

About the Author

Kev Strong is an online marketing consultant at Newcastle Upon Tyne based digital marketing agency, Mediaworks.
A lover of all things search and an ex-web developer, Kev Strong (a.k.a Goosh) is a specialist in advanced search engine optimisation.